Extraordinary Machine
by Sylime
Summary: Bella is moving on and turning over a new leaf, but she's not sure where the beginning is. Edward wants to know why the new leaf should be turned over, because he's quite content with the one he's got. All Human. A little OOC.
1. The Bear in the Hummer

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Stephenie Meyer does.  
**

* * *

_"Do I so worry you?  
No need to hurry to my side  
That's very kind  
But it's to no avail  
I don't want the veil of flowers, no  
**Everything will be just fine**"_

_Extraordinary Machine- Fiona Apple  
_

**A Beginning**_.  
_

**BPOV:**

It was raining. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. It starts raining. _I hate rain._

And that is when my beautiful old Chevy, who survived so many years, made an unhealthy sputter, and juddered, rolling to a stop in the middle of Angeles Creast Highway, not 30 miles from Los Angeles, the city of Angels itself.

_Oh, it just worse._

"Shit."

I turned the key in the ignition. The truck let out a roar, and died. Turning it again and again, I panicked.

"Shiiiiiitttt... Come on, come on, come on!"

_Okay, cool it. It's tired. Like you. _Placing my head on the steering wheel, I prayed. And turned the key again. This time, the Chevy didn't even bother roaring. Nothing.

Two in the morning. In the middle of a National Park. Full of all my possessions and everything dear to me. In the pitch black, and not a gas station for miles. My Chevy gave up.

I just sat there, I don't know for how long, with my head on the steering wheel, thinking of all the things I had left behind. Mainly Charlie and Jake. My friends, Angela, Jessica, Ben, Mike, and _Him._

_No. He was a good thing to leave behind. In fact you should have left him years ago._

That's when, out of no where a tap came from the passenger side window. I jumped, hitting my head on the steering wheel. Then laughter. Rubbing my forehead, I stare out the window at a huge shaking torso, only for it to bend down and show a boyish face of man with a grin the size of the Cheshire cat.

"Are you okay there? You gave me a fright! I thought you had died, slumped over your wheel like that." Despite the rolled up windows, I could still hear his deep voice clearly, and could detected the laughter in it. My father had given me the stranger danger talk since I was walking and talking, but there was no way a man this happy at two in the morning could be a rapist. Or a murdered. Possible certified insane, but not a murderer.

I rolled down my windows to explain that the Chevy had gotten tired, and I had merely stopped to give it a breather.

He snorted with laughter, and leaned into the cab, large, muscular forearms resting against the door. "I'm surprised it ran at all. Where'ya from?"

"I – er. Washington?" I blushed while internally wincing as I pronounced my home state like a question. But hey, he was handsome, and I was a tired, nervous wreck, with hair fit for a bird's nest. "I'm moving to Los Angeles and my truck..." I waved my hand around me signalling my truck's given condition.

"Downtown?"

"Err." I took that as question to where I was moving to and shifted in my seat to look at the note with the directions and my new address, and blindly searched the floor of the cab. "Long Beach... Near the university? Ahaa!" Holding the note in some light, I read, "Flint Avenue?"

"No way!"

"Um. Yes way?"

"I'll give you a tow there!" He turned around and stalked back to his vehicle parked behind mine before I could protest, without answering my quasi-question.

It had stopped raining. I grabbed for my phone to check the time. _3.23am and 7 missed calls._ I turned the phone off and threw it away in disgust. _Just give up dickhead._

A flash of bright light distracted me from my thoughts and a large Hummer pulled up in front of me. Of course he drove a Hummer. No normal sized car could contain that bear of the man. He got out of the monster of a vehicle with surprising grace, with a large tow rope in hand, walked towards my truck, hooking up to the front to the back of his Hummer. He turned to signal at me to get out. I blushed again, realising I was staring rather intently at him. I obeyed willingly, as the last of the heat had escaped when I rolled down the window.

It wasn't raining any more, but it was just as dark and cold as it was an hour ago. I stood in front of the passenger door, with my hand on the handle of a stranger's car, looking back at my dead truck.

"Get in!" said the Hummer.

_Well, there's no arguing with 2700 kilograms worth of steel. _I opened the door and slid in as gracefully as one with my coordination could, turning my head to stare at the bear with a head full of curly brown hair. He still had the shit-eating grin on his face, with dimples to round it all off.

"Emmett Cullen."

"Wh-what?"

"Me, sweetheart."

"Oh. Oh, right. Uh. I'm Bella. Bella Swan."

* * *

**EPOV:**

I ran my fingers over the keys of my baby grand. Nothing. I'm a musical prodigy. And nothing is coming to me.

I hated that word. _Prodigy. _

I stared at my hands in disgust. Make some music, so you can record it, give it to your freaking manager, who will, in turn, be happy.

Again, nothing.

I shifted off the piano bench and stretched. _3.23am. Give up. Go to bed._ I ran my hands through my hair.

My thoughts wandered back to earlier today.

"_Ooh, there something in the wind!"_

I had laughed at the statement at the time. Sometimes Alice just sounds like a travelling fortune-telling gypsy. It wasn't really funny now.

"_What. Like oxygen?" _

_She jabbed me in the ribs with her evil pointy pixie elbows. Jasper smirked at me._

"_I'm serious Edward, some thing's changing." Alice stared straight into my eyes with her massive blue ones._

_Breaking eye contact, I looked at my lanky brother-in-law. "Your a psychologist Jasper, and you married into this?"_

"_Fine. Don't believe me." said the dark-haired pixie._

"_Fine. I won't."  
_

Hands interlocked and resting on my head I thought of Alice and her crazy predictions. Yeah, she wasn't usually wrong. But change? I didn't want change. I was fine.

Absolutely fine.

I was lying to myself.

_3.27am_.

Sighing. I gave up on trying to compose anything. I grabbed my t-shirt and pulled it off and over my head as I shuffled towards my bedroom. It wasn't much. White walls. White Sheets. Blue Carpet. The best part of it was the wall covered in postcards. I collect them. Always blank, from wherever I've been. I've been alot of places. The wall was nearly covered.

I squished down a corner of the Eiffel tower postcard where the bluetack was dry and had detached itself. Paris was beautiful. I collapsed on the bed, shoving the sheets down clumsy with my feet. I wasn't going to get any sleep. My insomnia was hitting hard tonight, I could tell I wasn't gonna get any sleep. My head throbbed with the prospect of another sleepless night.

Her face returned to my thoughts, her short black hair unusually flat, one hand on her hip, a loaf of Wonder bread in the other.

"_Why don't you get a girlfriend?" _

_I rolled my eyes. _"_A girlfriend? Why don't I get one? And where, darling sister, shall I get a girlfriend from? Wal-mart?" This was a familiar topic conversation that I had on a weekly basic with not only Alice, but with my mother too.  
_

_She rolled her eyes at me, and shoved bread in the bread bin. And picked up the second loaf to put in the freeer. "Shut up Edward. Your getting snarky in your old age. No, you get a girlfriend from a bar or a club, like a normal person."_

"_Sorry. I didn't realise they sold them there."_

_She threw the loaf of bread at me. "Come on. I need a new best friend!"_

"_I thought this was about me, she would be my girlfriend."_

"_Everything is already about you Edward. Your girlfriend couldn't be about you too."_

"_Yes, cause that would be illogical."_

"_Exactly."  
_

_I threw the loaf of bread that I had caught back at Alice who caught it without hesitation, and shoved the last few cans into the cupboard. _

_Jasper, who was uselessly sitting on a stool by the counter having nothing to do with putting away the grocery's, jumped as his blackberry vibrated on the counter. After reading it out loud he turned to Alice."Well hey, Emmett will be back tomorrow morning. So after our lunch, we can all go out to a bar and buy Edward a new girlfriend."_

_Alice grinned and skipped off into the lounge._

"_Traitor."_

"_With a girlfriend you'll finally have something to do at night." He hopped off his stool, waggling his traitorous eyebrows at me and followed Alice into the next room blackberry in hand._

They knew what happened to the last girlfriend. And they wanted me to get a new one?

I sighed again, and rolled over, willing myself to sleep.


	2. The Thorn on the Rose

**Disclaimer: Despite many efforts, I still don't own these characters. Stephenie Meyer does.**

**

* * *

**

_"Are you counting backwards  
Keeping up when  
Things go wrong  
Time to change your tactics  
**Time to lead, not tag along**"_

_Into the Sun - 48 May  
_

**An Introduction:**

**BPOV:**

"No way."

I had soon caught on that _No Way _was not disbelief, but more of, Emmett's way of expressing surprise.

"Yes way. Number 206A."

"Edward lives at 204A! Your neighbours!"

I nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't reply.

Edward, I was guessing was Emmett's younger brother, previously mentioned in conversation, who lived also on Flint Avenue. This conversation took place in the half hour drive down town, mentioned also was Emmett's job, his wife, his daughter, his sister and her husband, his parents and more. It wasn't that he was boasting. Oh no, I knew he wasn't full of himself, it was more of he was so happy and content with he had, that he felt obliged to share. I had a feeling, if anyway stood still near Emmett long enough, they too would know all about the tales of convincing a stubborn two year old why she should use a potty. His sister, Alice, and her husband, Jasper, also lived on Flint Aveune, and after a statement "she's gonna love you!" It was deemed that I had made a friend before I even made it into the city center.

"Need help moving in?"

"It's four in the morning! Go home and see your wife. It's late... Er, well, early..." I stumbled over the last sentence in my fatigue, walking toward my new home.

It was a semi-detached, old red brick, two story beauty. I loved it the minute I had a virtual tour. The second floor was a separate flat, still up for sale or rent. I walked up the porch to the front down and fumbled for the key to the flaking red door with rusted metal numbers of 206.

_This was a new beginning. _I swung open the door to a glorious lounge with dark wooden floors, white painted walls. _This is where I can start- _

"It's empty."

Emmett's booming voice interrupted my thoughts. "Well, yeah. I'm moving in."

"But where are you gonna sleep?" He stared down at me in confusion.

"On the floor...?"

"You can't sleep on the floor."

"I can-"

"I have a spare room you can stay in until you buy a bed." This apparently wasn't up for argument, because at that moment he strolled outside, leaving me speechless and pretty pissed off.

I swung around to follow him angrily, turning to fast, and fell from tripping over my own feet in the whole turning process. Practice had made prefect, and I managed to put my hands out in time to prevent the face plant.

"Hey. Rose says it's cool."

"What?" Blushing furiously in being caught out on the floor.

"You can stay in the spare room. Bring a change of clothes."

"Emmett, I..." I hauled myself off the floor. Emmett didn't even look at me strangely. Only half an hour with me, and he was used to my clumsiness."I couldn't..."

"I'm having lunch at Edward's tomorrow, so I'll drop you off anyway. But don't you need furniture?" By the look on his face, this was a rhetorical question, and I wasn't to answer it and interrupt his external spew of thoughts. "I'll go to Ikea with you in the morning. It's not like your truck's going anywhere. Lunch isn't until two. Come on, let's go." Turning on his heel, he strolled out without another word. Again.

"What about your wife?" I called after him.

"Like I said, she doesn't mind!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later I was standing outside the largest house with a front yard and a white picket fence I had seen in suburbia. Ever. It was the kind of house that was in the end a movie where the girl and the guy get together and make babies.

Someone watched our arrival. That someone just so happened to be a five foot ten, leggy blonde in a red silk dressing gown that barley covered her knees. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her facial features were lit by the automatic light above the door. She was, with no doubt, drop-dead gorgeous.

"Hello Gorgeous!" boomed a happily married Emmett to the Victoria Secret escapee model waiting for him by the door. Without much further ado, he strolled to her, picked her up and twirled her after in a huge hug, before kissing her thoroughly and putting her down. The whole process, was quicker said than done, and I stood there feeling like an intruder in on their time.

"Rose, this is Bella. Bella, this is my wife, Rosalie."

I walked towards them, with my backpack slung over one shoulder. She reached out her hand, and I shook it. "Thank you very much for having me."

"It's no problem." she replied with a small smile. Her voice was deeper than I expected it to be. The smile did not reach her eyes, baby blues that were looking me up and down. I felt rather small and childish in my worn blue jeans and combat boots.

"Come on in Bella, I'll give you a tour." Emmett said taking my backpack off me and walking inside. I followed meekly. There really wasn't another word for it. I hadn't felt so out of place in years.

"Maybe not now Emmett, Violet is asleep." Rosalie whispered behind me.

"Oh. Right, then I'll just show you to your room Bella." Emmett's whisper seemed loud in comparison. "Feel free to take a shower, it's right next door to the spare room."

"I'll pass. I wouldn't want to wake Violet up."

"Thank you." I jumped as the air tickled my ear. Rosalie had whispered right in my ear, so Emmett wouldn't hear.. I turned and smile, unsure. Her face was close, but no one had turned on the hallway lights, and I couldn't make out her facial expression.

Emmett turned into a room. "Well, here's your room. You can shower in the morning then. What time do you want to go to Ikea?"

"Ikea?" Rosalie switched on the lights and stood beside me, looking at Emmett with an expression filled with curiosity.

"Bella needs furniture, and has no truck..."

"Oh right."

They both looked at me expectedly, waiting for a decision.

"Early?"

"Nine?"

"Okay?"

_Your asking questions again. _They didn't realise or didn't care, as the answer was as simple as, "Cool. Night Bella."

Rosalie and Emmett walked out of the room, without giving me a chance to even say thank you, closing the door behind them with a soft 'click'.

I turned off the light, and lowered myself on to the bed, and kicked off my shoes.

_We'll start on this whole new independence thing tomorrow then..._

_

* * *

  
_

A weight was pressing on my chest, holding me down, and something was poking my face.

I froze.

The something poked my face again.

"Hwello? Belllllllaaaaa?" It breathed on my face, the air smelling minty.

I mentally prepared myself for the assault, and open my eyes, only to find a pair of large brown eyes staring straight into mine.

"Violet! What are you doing?! Get off Bella!"

"Sworry Bella." Violet climbed off my chest and slide to the floor. "Breaky?"

"Uhhh..?"

"Breakfast Bella? It's eight in the morning. Oh, and this is Violet." Rosalie was stood by the door, arms crossed over her chest, scowling at Violet, whose blonde head hung low. "Sorry about Violet."

"No-no. It's fine. It's nice to meet you Violet, your dad told me a lot about you." Violet grinned broadly. She defiantly had Emmett's smile. "I needed to get up anyway. I'll be there in 5. Uh. The shower..?"

"Just next door. Towels are in there." Rosalie held her hand out for Violet, who skipped and latched on. She turned to leave, being dragged out by Violet.

"Rosalie."

She looked at me expectedly. The indifference I felt last night still radiating off her, but I had realised what it was before I fell asleep.

I was a danger to her child. An stranger Emmett meet at three in the morning and brought home to stay the night. But she still let me in her home despite the possible instability I could have been.

And for that...

"Thank you."

* * *

Ikea never had had such an enthusiastic costumer until Emmett walked into the store.

In fact, so full of spirit was this man, that he didn't just walk in.

He glided in.

On a trolley.

Running on four hours sleep. At most.

I survived Ikea. I have furniture. I even have basic home-ware goods, linen, and electronics, cause Emmett isn't a man to do things half-arsed. All in good time. It was only 12.45pm. The fridge would be over at 4.00pm today, and then I could buy food.

_I had a new home, a new fridge, a new laptop and a new bed, not to mention the other several billion items we purchased.  
_

I sighed happily. Then a thought crossed my mind. How did we get get all this stuff into his car? I knew I was getting a delivery for most of the electronics this afternoon (including my new fridge. _Sigh_.), but the question still remained. That was _a lot _of stuff we brought.

"Hey, Emmett?"

"Yeah."

Turning around in my seat to admire the mass of flat-packs overflowing in the backseat. "How the hell did you manage to fit all this in the car?"

"It's not a car. It's a-"

I rolled my eyes and interrupted him "-It's a 6.6L turbo, ozone destroying, DMAX, V8, 5-speed automatic, polar bear-killing, H1 Alpha TRUCK. Colour: Red."

Emmett roared with laughter. His laughter, at first, had scared the crap out of me. Now, I was used to it. Ikea is a barrel-full of laughs according to Emmett.

"How'd you know all that?"

"You told me last night."

"You _remembered_?"

"Well yeah." I shrugged off handedly. I was good a remembering facts. "So how-?"

"I have a sister."

I hadn't formed a suitable response for his answer as we pulled up at the driveway, when I saw the Chevy still sat there. Full of my old stuff.

"Holy crap!" I jumped out of the military vehicle and raced to my truck. I had abandoned all my valuables still in it. All my possessions. I stood there with my hands over my face. _Idiot, you idiot._

"Hey, at least nothing was stolen." Emmett had gotten out of his truck and was leaning against the door.

"Yeah... lucky..." I whispered.

_It doesn't make you any less of an idiot. _

"Ooooookay. We have an hour to get all of this inside. Lets go, go, go!"

He was right. _Just be thankful it's still all here and get it all inside. _I took a deep breath, and got on with it.

* * *

It took less than an hour. Emmett was on the ball today, and had brought his tool box with him. He was explaining the usage of the power drill for putting up shelves, when there was a knock at the door.

"Five bucks that's Alice coming to nosy in on the new neighbour!" He said jumping up to answer _my_ door.

I heard the door opening and the voice of female, talking excitedly. An "You owe me five bucks!" shouted over top of Alice's voice, confirmed my suspicions.

"I don't owe you anything, Cullen. You have to shake on it to make it a real bet." I yelled back at him, wiping my hands on my jeans. _I don't even have a mirror to make myself presentable. _I hated surprises more than I hated rain. There was no need for them. Meeting people, even if they were neighbours, was a surprise I _really_ didn't want.

I sighed and walked to the door where a short woman with spiky black was stood impatiently, switching her weight from one leg to the other, while simultaneously talking animately to Emmett, who was wearing his shit-eating grin again.

She must have heard me coming, as she swung around with envious grace toward me.

I didn't have time to react as a "Bella!" was shouted out and I was envelope by a hug that had more strength in it that one of her size should contain. Before I even had a real grasp on the situation a hand, she let go of me, now directing her excited babble towards me.

"Wow! It's _so_ nice to meet you. Rosalie told us what happened. It was _real lucky_ that Emmett was driving by. At that time of morning too! I'm Alice Whitlock. Emmett's younger sister." She poked her head around me at the boxes of my personal effects. "Oh, you went shopping already? Do you need more stuff? I know some great shops!"

"Umm. Maybe, when I figure out what else I need..?"

Alice squealed, actually squealed, with delight.

A tall lanky man grabbed Alice's shoulders and shook her, silencing the squeal, taking advantage of the situation by introducing himself. "Jasper Whitlock." He held out a large hand to shake.

I took it. "A pleasure to meet you both." Alice grinned, and turning her head up to Jasper, who smiled in return. I felt like I missing out on some kind of secret.

"And this is my little, idy-bidy, brother, Eddie!" Emmett's arm was slung around a not so "idy-bidy" man, with sharp green eyes and messy bronze hair.

_Oh. _

_My._

_God._


	3. The Queen in the Sky

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**

* * *

**_"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup  
They slither wildly as they slip away  
Across the universe  
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind  
Possessing and caressing me**  
Nothing's gonna change my world."**_

Across the Universe – The Beatles

**A Change:  
**

**EPOV:**

8.03am.

Well, that was more sleep than I expected to get. I huffed, and rolled out of bed, blindly stumbling to the bathroom. I should probably be grateful to my brain. But then again... This music block was killing me.

I have that damn family lunch today. Lunch with the family made me feel like Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Nothing against my family, but they're all insane.

I got out of the shower and dressed, knowing Alice would be here soon. Living on the same street as your little sister meant, for some reason, that she had to come over whenever she felt like it, whatever the time. You couldn't keep her out either, because I know she can pick the locks, however much she denies it.

She knew I didn't sleep well when I was stressed, and her sleeping patterns were erratic. So, it wasn't out of the ordinary that she would turn out at eight thirty in the morning. Turn up with some pitiful excuse for a shopping trip.

I made myself toast, while waiting for Alice to turn up at my door.

She didn't disappoint. There was a knock on the door at eight thirty five as I was spreading on the peanut butter.

"Someone moved in!"

While this was perplexing and questionable statement to a normal person, I didn't have to ask what she meant. Alice and I had stuck together through out our childhood and adolescent years, we didn't ever fit in with rest of the crowd being as "freaky" as we were. This meant that what was an incoherent sentence from Alice to one person, usually made sense to me.

That, and the fact the neighbouring house had been mysterious empty for the past year. Property like that didn't just sit around for a year. Both the flats were prime, and not too expensive for a two bedroom place down town either. 206 was the talk of Flint Avenue. Okay, it was creepy that someone had been murdered in there 10 years. But I doubted real estates flaunted that aspect of the property. The fact that no one lived in either of the two flats longer than a year was also weird.

I poked my head out the door, looking over Alice's head to 206's driveway, where my eyes were assaulted by a large orange Chevy.

"It's still full of stuff!"

"Maybe they haven't had time to unpack Alice. Calm it. Which flat?"

"Bottom floor. 206B still has the sale sign up." Pointing to the one of the ugly For Sale signs at the end of the drive. Weirder still, the For Sale signs for 206 never bothered to put a SOLD label on them. They would just disappear. "There's nothing inside the house! I don't understand..."

"Oh God. You did _not_ look through the windows."

"I had to–"

"I am so glad I was adopted, could you imagine if I had to explain to people that we were blood related?"

Alice scowled and stormed past me, into the house.

"Anyway, where's Jasper?" I asked, following her into my kitchen, sitting down on the bar stool to resume my breakfast.

"Sleeping."

"How reassuringly normal of him. Why aren't you sleeping? Oh wait. I forgot your not-"

"'Cause I'm here to help you make lunch!" She flung her arms wide, and grinned manically, interrupting my quip at her sanity.

Bugger. There was no way I could escape. I was gonna have to take her shopping _again, _the second time in two days. And she knew it. This was the reason she was here. Nothing could be put past Alice.

I just put my head in my hands and groaned in defeat.

The pixie clapped her hands together and danced around the kitchen.

* * *

4 _hours_ later we were lugging a never ending amount of groceries into my kitchen. Jasper sat watching, being useless, again.

"I thought you brought groceries yesterday."

"Yeah, so did I. Anyway, what the hell are you doing sitting there, get off your arse and help you useless pile of–"

"I'm supervising Edward, just in case you pull your back out in your old age."

"Your older than me!"

"The very reason I shouldn't be lugging shopping around."

There was a large slam of the front door, and Alice strolled back in with the last bag, placing it on the counter. "There's still no one there!"

Jasper looked confused, so I filled him in with the latest. "New neighbour. Truck outside full of stuff. No thing and no one inside the house. Suspense and mystery killing Alice."

He laughed, earning a glare from Alice.

"Shut up, and help me unpack."

The smug look that appeared on his face when Alice walked in was gone in a second, and he jumped off the stool to helped her pull out freezer goods and put them on the counter.

I coughed discreetly into my hand covering my laugher.

Jasper gave me the finger from behind his back, so Alice didn't see.

"So what are you making for lunch exactly?"

"We, Edward. What are _we _making for lunch exactly. Well, I thought we'd do a roast? What do you think?"

I didn't get a say in the matter. I hadn't even begun to string a sentence together in a reply before she was off on one.

"A roast chicken that is. A ham would take too long. I mean, we brought a pretty big chicken as it is. It could take up to 2 hours. And I don't really want to barbecue it, as much as Emmett loves 'beer-can chicken'. Then with mashed potatoes or roast potatoes? I was gonna go wild and do mash. Violet would rather have mashed. Or would you rather roast? Oh well, anyway, potatoes, and vegetables. We brought carrots, squash, turnips and beans. Should we have got anything else? We could have got pumpkin, but I wasn't sure– "

"Sounds good honey." Oh and Jasper whips out the Texan drawl to silence her. Alice beamed.

I sighed. I wouldn't win, so I didn't bother arguing. Instead I contented myself with peeling potatoes, so I would have to deal with the poultry.

* * *

I had managed to peal about 20 odd potatoes, when a familiar roar of a truck came from outside. I frowned and looked at the clock, it was only one in the afternoon. Lunch wasn't until two. Alice must have had a similar thought because she walked in from the lounge and looked at me.

"I told him two." She shrugged.

"I won't let him in the house then." she replied grinning, walking back into the lounge to watch her show.

I rinsed the potatoes, left them on the side, and walked into the lounge to join Alice. I rolled over the top of the couch and landed on Alice, just to annoy her.

"OI!"

"Sorry, didn't see you there." She shove me off her roughly, and I landed on the floor with a dull thump.

I sat up, rubbing my hip, putting my head in front of her line of vision. "Where's Jazz?"

"He when home when_ that client_ called. He'll be back in an hour." She didn't even glance at me, just moved her head so she could see the screen and continued to stare at Tyra Banks and her next top model crap.

_That_ _client_ was Maria. She was an agoraphobic, until Jasper recruited her for his research, 'curing phobias', that helped him gain his doctorate in psychology about 6 years ago. She wasn't the only one he recruited and 'cured'. She was just the one who fell 'in love' with him and now sees him on a monthly basis to update and 'prevent slipping back into old habits'. She feels the need to call every now and again as well. Alice hates her.

"Bitch." I comforted her, moving out of the way and getting comfortable on the floor. Alice nodded in agreement, again without breaking eye contact from the TV.

We sat there in comfortable silence watching her crappy show to the end.

"I'm gonna check on the chicken." As the credits rolled.

"Don't bother Edward, it's not ready. But put the vegetables in why don't you?" I nodded and got up from the floor.

"Hey Edward..."

"Mmmm."

"What happened to Emmett?"

I froze thinking. _He never knocked._ I frowned and closing the oven door on the vegetables, turning to look at Alice.

Without a word we both went to the front door, and opened it. Funnily enough, a surprised looking Jasper stood there with his fist raised about to knock.

"Where's Emmett?"

Jasper didn't look as confused as he should have. "Well, I came to ask... His truck isn't actually parked in your driveway..." Pointing towards the new neighbours truck. The Chevy was unpacked, and Emmett's red beast of a vehicle parked directly behind it. I hear Alice gasp beside me. _Emmett beat her to it._ I smiled. This was gonna be too funny.

Although the two porches were essentially one porch, they were separated by a fence, just like the back garden was. Alice didn't even bother walking down the stairs of my porch and up to the neighbour's stairs, she just jumped the fence. Jasper shrugged at me and climbed over after her. I sighed, and followed route as Alice knocked on the door of 206A.

Some murmuring came from the inside, followed by footsteps, and then Emmett, opened the door with a massive grin. He knew the reaction this was gonna get out of Alice.

"Emmett! You know the new neighbour! You only got back this morning! Where did you meet him? What are you even doing here? Why haven't– "

"You owe me five bucks!" He yelled interrupting her. I wouldn't blame him, usually interrupting Alice way the only way to get your say, but I don't think he was yelling at us, because of the way he turned his head to say it.

Proving my theory correct, a clear female voice answered Emmett back. "I don't owe you anything, Cullen. You have to shake on it to make it a real bet."

"A woman? Is she single?" Alice leaned in to whisper. I rolled my eyes. Knowing exactly what she was thinking, the meddling pixie.

"Yes. And yes again. Her name's Bella Swan." He actually whispered back. He pulled us inside into the lounge, which was littered by boxes from Ikea.

Alice shifted her weight to one leg impatience with waiting, as if one minute was an extravagant amount of time to drop what you were doing to come and meet people, when Bella Swan herself walked into the room. The poor girl didn't stand a chance, as Alice flung herself at the _complete_ stranger with a shout of "Bella!" and _hugged_ her, before talking her ear off. Alice has no boundaries.

I took advantage of the distraction Alice provided to examine my new neighbour. There was no denying that she was a classic beauty. Pale skin, big brown eyes, full lips, and a heart shaped face framed by wavy brown locks, currently pulled up into a ponytail. She was just taller than Alice's 5"1.

"Sooo, you like what you see...?" Emmett raised his eyebrow at me, talking in a hushed low tone. _Fucker._

"I'm not looking for a girlfriend, Emmett."

"Just because your not looking, doesn't mean you won't find one." A high-pitched squeal of delight cut my reply short, redirecting our attention back to Alice and Bella.

Jasper had introduced himself. So I guess it was my turn. Before I could politely introduce myself, Emmett grabbed me around the shoulders and boomed "And this is my little, idy-bidy, brother, Eddie!" I flinched at the nickname. '_Fucker'_ _wasn't an adequate insult... I needed something more..._

"Edward," I clarified. "Edward Cullen. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand towards her.

Nothing. She just stood there with wide eyes staring at my face.

_1._

_2._

_3–_

Breaking eye contact, she shook her head, as if trying to clear it, blushing furiously. Like crying, some people just don't look good blushing. This woman was not one of them, Bella pulled it off beautifully. She slipped her small hand into mine and shook it.

"Bella Swan."

The strangest sensation occurred. A tingling all the way up my arm, stemming from the hand that held hers, before my brain could register it, she had pulled her hand out of mine, cheeks still burning.

"Uh, I, um, I thought your last name was Masen?"

Ah. That explains the staring. "It's a stage name." I explained. I'm surprised she even recognised me. Usually only old ladies or other concert musicians recognised me.

"Oh. Right. I, er, love your piece 'Twilight'." She blushed again.

I smiled. "Thank you."

Beside me, I could feel Alice about to spontaneously combust. She actually did a little wiggle, before opening her mouth to invited Bella to our family lunch. "...We're going out to the local bar for drinks after..."

Bella shook her head and turning her attention away from me. "I'm sorry Alice, I have a delivery coming over at four. And I just want to sort out the majority of my stuff before I sleep..." Waving her hand at the mess of boxes.

Alice looked disappointed, but surprisingly didn't argue. "Well, I live down at number 194B, if you need any help." Bella nodded.

A car pulled into my driveway. "Argh! The potatoes Edward!" Alice suddenly yelled at me. "It's not even 2 o'clock yet! We have to go. Bye Bella! Lovely to meet you! I'll see you tomorrow!"

And she was gone. Jasper grinned at her panic, and shook Bella's hand again. "I think we'll be seeing you around."

"You have my number Bella, don't hesitate to call. I'll see you around okay. And call that mechanic!" Emmett gave Bella a crushing hug, and a pang of annoyance went through me. _What..._

"Thank you for everything Emmett." _Everything?_

Emmett left leaving me completely alone with Bella. 

_They planned this. Meddlesome creatures._

I looked around the room at the flat-packs, and then back at Bella. "If you ever need any help, that doesn't require constant chatter or shopping trips. I'm right next door." She grinned and nodded.

_Shit, she was beautiful._

"Er. Bye then." I spun and left, neatly jumping over the fence, nearly crashing into my mother.

"You look flushed Edward." I heard the click of a door behind me and I relaxed.

I ignored her comment and gave her a hug. "Lovely to see you too Esme." Despite, them being in all respects being our parents, Emmett, Alice and I have only ever called them by their first names. I turned and gave Carlisle a hug. "Hows it going old man?"

Carlisle grinned. He was barely 46, grey hairs only lightly tinting the sides of his blond hair. "Not bad Edward. Not bad. New neighbour?"

They didn't even live in Long Island, and they were staring curiously at Bella's truck.

"Bella. Aged 24. Single." Emmett's voice came from the inside of the lounge. _Oh, he just _had_ to __throw that last bit in. _

"Single eh?" Esme countered, rounding onto me. I knew where this was going.

"I told you something was going to change Edward! I told you. And it's her. She's gonna change everything!" Alice threw her arms above her head dramatically.

"No, Alice. I'm not going to have anything to do with her. I don't want a change." I left the room to the kitchen, where Jasper was setting the table.

Jasper looked up when I entered the room, and gave me a sympathetic look.

"I don't want change." I repeated to him, although he had obviously heard me from the other room.

"Change will happen whenever you want it or not Edward, and sometimes you won't even notice it changing. You can't prevent change." Jasper spoke in low tones, as not to be heard by the others in the next room.

I nodded lost in my thoughts. _Change will happen whenever you want it or not._

_

* * *

_

"Another round!" His voice was too loud, and made my ears ring.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and looked at her gold watch. "Really Emmett? It's late. Let's just go."

"Come on Rosie, one more won't hurt." Retaliated my well and truly sloshed brother.

Rosalie stared at me, willing me with her eyes to convince Emmett. I was never much of a fan of Rosalie. But she was good for my brother, so I put up with her.

"Come on Emmett, Violet's with the grand-parents, you have a night with Rosalie _all_ to yourself." I smiled brightly.

Jasper and Alice cracked up laughing, Rosalie gave me the death glare.

Not to give Emmett a reason to hesitate, I leaned over and stage whispered "If your lucky she'll give you a blow-"

Rosalie slapped the back of my head. Hard. I'll probably get a headache. Alice fell off her seat with laughter, and Jasper snorted beer out his nose, while Emmett sat there and absorbed the information.

"Okay, let's go Rosie." Slinging his arm over his wife and staggering to his feet. She gave me a parting glare, and disappeared into the crowd.

Alice reached up and grabbed the table and heaved her small body back onto the booth, still giggling. She leaned over the table to talk to me.

"No pretty ladies?"

I rolled my eyes. "No Alice."

"That's because their beauty has dimmed in comparison to Bella's." She nodded in all her drunken wise woman glory.

I pinched the bridge of my nose annoyed, but refused to let Alice see my agitation.

Bella had been the hot topic of conversation over lunch, and only 5 minutes after meeting her, Alice had proclaimed they were going to be the best of friends. 7 hours and 6 cocktails later, she proclaimed Bella and I were going to get married and have children together. She meant well.

I sighed. I really wasn't drunk enough to deal with a drunk Alice.

"Don't be sad Eddie. She's gonna love you!"

"I'm going now." I stood up from the booth to emphasize my point. "Got enough money for a cab?" I asked the more sober of the two Whitlock's.

"If your going to go. We might as well go too." Jasper said throwing a tenner down on the table as a tip, standing up.

I nodded and maneuvered out of the bar to hail a cab. As one pulled up, Alice and Jasper stumbled out.

I then had to listen to Alice sing along to the radio, 3 octaves higher than the real song, all the way home, making the ride feel three times as long as its 10 minutes.

I paid the cabbie, and jumped out of the taxi, throwing a parting good bye to Jasper, leaving him to carry Alice in.

The air was fresh, unusual for Los Angeles, which stunk of pollution most of the time, and standing in my driveway I looked up. The sky was clear and full of stars. _Wow._

"Amazing isn't it. My friend Jake says they all have stories."

I think I jumped half a mile high.

There she was, sitting on her half of the porch, watching me. It was too dark to see, but I was guessing she was blushing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." she mumbled, and started to get up.

"Ah. No, sorry. I just didn't see you there." _Why was I apologising? _"Do you want to hear something?" I waved her over to come and stand next to me.

She walked over, her arms crossed against her chest and stood near me.

"See those five bright stars, that kinda make a 'W'?" I pointed up at the sky.

"Um yeah?"

"It's the constellation Cassiopeia. She was queen to King Cepheus. She was incredibly beautiful, but incredibly vain, and boasted that she and her daughter, Andromeda was more beautiful than the sea god's, Nereus, nymph-daughters, the Nereids. This angered Poseidon, the ruling god of the sea, who threatened to flood the whole kingdom. Or, at least, send Cetus, the sea monster to destroy it. Cassiopeia and Cepheus in an attempt to save their kingdom saw an oracle to get advice. The oracle proclaimed that the only way to appease the sea god is to sacrifice their daughter."

I paused. _Why the hell are you telling her this crap? _I must sound like such a douche. _Just because Greek mythology interests you, doesn't mean- _

"So what happened then?" her voice cut through the night. I stared down at her in surprise, only to find her staring intently back up at me. She had moved closer to me in an endeavor to hear my story.

"Um. Uh. Well." I stuttered surprised. "According to the myth, Andromeda was chained to a rock at the sea's edge and left there to helplessly await her fate at the hands of Cetus. But the hero Perseus arrived in the nick of time and saved her, and eventually became her husband. Poseidon, convinced that Cassiopeia still need to be punished, placed her in the heavens in such a position that half the time she is upside down."

"Yeah, I guess being upside down would suck. Much worse than sacrificing your daughter to a sea monster." She snorted sarcastically.

"That's what I thought." Laughing, I stared down at her again. She was still staring up at the sky.

"It doesn't much look like a a person."

"The constellation is said to be her throne. Although some say its her crown."

"Huh."

We stood there in comfortable silence. I've never had told strangers stories about constellations. Let alone a stranger as beautiful as Bella. Never would I had thought that

"Well, I better call it a night. Thank you for the story." Her sigh brought me back to the real world and looked down to see her grinning up at me. My heart did a flip.

"Goodnight Edward."

"Goodnight Bella."

My chest seized up and it felt like my heart was in my throat. I watched her walk up the stairs and to the front door. _What is wrong with me? _

_Please look back._ Please look back?! What– ?

She looked back, and waved, before closing the door behind her.

_She looked back. _My heart did another little flip in my chest.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

_

* * *

_**A/N: agoraphobic: fear of open spaces.  
Ages, in case your wondering. **

**Edward: 26  
Alice and Bella: 25  
Jasper and Rosalie: 28  
Emmett: 29  
Carlisle: 46  
Esme: 45**

**I meant to call Rosalie and Emmett's kid Vera, after Rosalie's friend from the books. But I fucked up and got the name wrong. So now it's Violet.**

**Ah well.  
**


	4. The Snakes on her Head

**Disclaimer: Actually I do own a fat, ginger cat. But he likes food more than he likes me.**

**

* * *

**_"I've hoped for change,  
it gets better everyday  
I've hoped for change,  
**but still I feel the same.**"_

_Whoa - Paramore_

_**A Friend:**  
_

**BPOV:**

_Moonlight Sonata, third movement._

The walls, it turns out, were not very sound proof and for the last three hours I have been lying on my back, on my brand-new Ikea bed, with my brand-new, dark blue sheets, in some not so brand-new sweat pants and shirt, listening to, taking a wild guess, Edward playing his piano.

_Edward Masen...slash Cullen..._

Wait 'till I tell Mom that her all time pianist crush was my brand-new next door neighbour. I had never been a classical music fan, but Mom loves it, so I had my favourites. Edward Masen's _Twilight _being one of them.

Now the beautiful and talented man lived right next door.

"_Bella Swan. Uh, I, um, I thought your last name was Masen?"_

_Oh Bella, your so freaking smooth_. I think I might actually had visibly winced as soon as I said it out loud, stuttering and stumbling all over the place. I most defiantly blushed. He was so _nice_. Isn't LA supposed to be filled with rude folk? All of the Cullens (and Whitlocks) were really, really nice. _I guess I shouldn't be complaining._

I stared up into the darkest above me. The third movement was the longest as I remember. Other one of my favourites. I had been playing the 'guess what song he's playing now' for about an hour. The first half hour was just random warm ups, scales and whatnot. I had just gotten out of the shower and was searching for the source of noise for about ten minutes before I realised what it was. The next hour sounded like he was composing something, a song that stopped and started, changing and progressing. If he wasn't so good, it would have been annoying. The last hour and a half were well known piano pieces. Everything from his own compositions, like Twilight, to others, like Chopsticks.

He finished with a flourish. Then silence. _The_ s_hows over._ I sighed and closed my eyes. Now Edward's face invaded my head. His jaw line, his straight nose, those dark circles under his green eyes. He was incredibility beautiful for a man.

That night, I dreamed of Edward.

* * *

_There! All the weeds are GONE. _I stood up hands on hips and stared at my handiwork. Honestly it looked worse than before. "It's not finished yet, it's not finished yet." I muttered to myself, bending down to pick up the weeds to throw them in the compost bin in the corner of the garden. It didn't look like the bin had been ever used, and I made a mental decision to change that.

Emmett had come over again to tow the truck to the mechanics, so I asked if there was a garden center nearby. It really wasn't nearby, but he took me anyway. Now I had a billions of plants to plant in my weed filled garden and now that it wasn't weed filled...

I grabbed the first small bush_ - __Rubus strigosus. _The only plant I hadn't brought for it's looks. I generally love raspberries.

I wasn't much of a gardener, all the plants I had brought were plants the generally survive without much help. It was the garden I was after. Somewhere I could sit and write, quiet and peaceful. But not overgrown with weeds.

The whole operation took me four and a half hours. I sat in the middle of the garden admiring my handiwork. Raspberries at the back of the garden, lining the sides; cacti, a lemon tree, birds of paradise, agave, lavender. Some potted plants of butterfly weed. To finish it all off, hidden by some tree, was a bench. It was strangely secluded in the small garden.

"Lemonade?" Her soprano voice came out of nowhere, making me jump.

"Uh, w-what?"

She grinned. "Sorry, I just been watching you work for like, ages, and thought...?" She stretched her small skinny arm towards me holding the lemonade. I got up from the porch step, walking towards the fence that separated Edwards garden from mine and took the lemonade. Alice was balanced on a supporting post of the fence, and was now my height. I leaded against the fence staring at the glass of lemonade.

"It feels wrong."

"Huh?"

"Well, it's not really summer is it?" I blushed, realising the stupidity of my sentence and took a swig to shut myself up.

"Oh! Yeah, I know what you mean, I felt really weird making it." I stared at her in awe.

"You made this? It's amazing!" Her grin, if possible, got wider.

"I like what you did." She nodded her head full of spiky black hair to my newly planted garden.

I shrugged. "I like the garden, I couldn't have it looking like-" _Are you trying to make a fool of yourself?_

"like crap?" She finished for me, I returned her grin. We were defiantly on the same page. "Need any help?"

I stared down at my glass, thinking of a reply. I did, but I didn't want to force her into thinking she was obliged out of manners.

But, seemingly, I didn't have to answer because she jumped the fence with surprising grace, and walked straight into my house with a "come on then" hollered over her shoulder.

* * *

  
Alice it turns out, is as bad at DIY as I was.

In an hour, we only managed to get a bookshelf assembled. If fact, it most likely would have been done quicker without Alice. I didn't have any complaints. Alice was easy to be with. She was a talker, I was a listener. She was also about as crazy as it gets.

"...So we married a month later, and two years on, here we are!"

"You found him in a diner, and told him what?... He had kept you waiting a long time...?"

"He was late."

"You didn't even know him!"

"I knew he was the one."

"Isn't Jasper trained to see crazy people, he is a real psychologist right?" She threw the instruction manual for the bookshelf at me with a laugh.

"Your turn for a question. So... where did you come from?"

"Well." Lowering my voice. "When a woman and a man love each oth-"

"Bella!" she shouted at me, laughing. "You can be as bad as Edward! Where did you _move_ from?"

"I moved from Washington."

She just stared at me.

"What? More than six and half million people live there. It's possible."

This wasn't the answer she wanted, but she moved on despite it. She waved my fact away with her small, dainty, manicured hand and shook her head. "You drove. From Washington."

"Oh! No! No, no, no. I drove from Phoenix, Arizona. I had all my stuff shipped to my Mom's, and I just drove from her house."

Understanding dawned as she comprehended this fact. "I didn't think you rust-mobile would have made it from Washington."

"Hey! Don't knock my truck." She rolled her eyes at me and got off the floor, walking into my kitchen.

"I'm gonna get something to eat."

I was going to point out that I had no food, but she was already gone.

She returned not a minute later, looking shell-shocked. "You have no food."

"I have no truck."

"You have no food." She repeated in a monotone. I had obviously had committed some kind of Alice faux pas.

"I have no_ transport_." I emphasised. I knew what was coming next, so all I had to do was wait.

"Okay, we're going shopping! Move it, move it!" She stormed out of the front door.

I laughed, and got off the floor following her.

* * *

Alice's car was just as over the top as I suspected. A yellow 911 turbo Porsche. Obviously the car thing runs in the family, because I was given a run down of statistics ("zero to hundred kilometres per hour in three-point-seven second, reaching a top speed of three hundred and ten kilometres per hour"). I didn't comment, but had stared warily at it until I will given orders to enter.

The drive should have taken at least 20 minutes. Alice did it in 12 minutes. Twelve minutes and thirty-nine seconds. She timed it.

Shopping with Alice was painful. The kind of pain that you feel taking a four year old shopping. You turn your back for a minute and your trolley is full of ice cream and Nutella. Worse still, because I needed to buy so much, it required two trolleys and she was in charge of one of them.

After a ridiculous amount of groceries ("A grocery trip is not a grocery trip unless you have enough food to survive a nuclear war." I was told), a few mishaps (me tripping over my own feet), a little difficulty getting all the food into the porsche (speed was one thing, boot space was another) and some sweet talking on Alice's behalf ("Hand over heart Bella, I will not go over fifty kilometres per hour."), we were back at my house, the trip only taking three hours. I considered myself lucky.

Until I saw what we had brought.

"Kool Aid? Really Alice? I hate Kool Aid. It's purple Kool Aid too. Think of all the additives."

"What is wrong with you people? Kool Aid is magic!"

"It's disgusting. Take it home with you."

"Flour?"

"Baking cupboard." Pointing haphazardly at a cupboard behind me, while balancing blocks of cheese on one arm. Stacking the cheese in my new shiny fridge, I saw more random food items Alice had snuck into her trolley. Chocolate yoghurts, cookie dough, hotdogs, chocolate milk and Mountain Dew. This girl was gonna make me fat.

"Cookie dough Alice. I can make cookies! I can make cookies _from scratch."_

"Bella, Bella, Bella, I brought it to eat the dough, not to bake."

There was no sensible reply to this, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Edward's single."

I looked up and stared hard at her. _Way to change the topic._ "So?"

"Your single."

"And?" She raised her eyebrows at my tone of voice. _Oh no. She knows._

"You were in a bad relationship." This wasn't a question, it was an outright statement and Alice had hit the nail right on the head.

I didn't bother questioning how she got to that conclusion, I didn't bother denying it. In the small time I had known Alice; i.e. four and a half hours. Alice was always right, even if what she said seemed impossible or downright weird, she always _knew_.

I waited for her to continue, or jump the conversation completely, which she had done earlier when she noticed my discomfort talking about my moving.

"Divorced." She kept on the same track.

"Two years ago."

"We married young."

"High school sweetheart, short marriage."

"A year."

"Why did you move?" She raised her eyebrows again, this time in question.

I was not ready to tell this story and I considered ways to tell her so without offending her.

"Don't tell me you don't like Lucky Charms." Alice had caught my hesitation and had moved on this time. She was holding the box of cereal that I had chucked on the counter next to the purple Kool Aid.

"It's marshmallow cereal, it's _more_ disgusting than Kool Aid. _Marshmallows in milk _Alice_._" I shuttered.

"Oh Bella!" She whined in despair.

_I could have not asked for a better friend._

_

* * *

  
_The piano was playing again. Softer than last night. A sweet recognisable melody. _What the hell is it called!? _

Jasper came knocking at eight and invited me over for dinner. I very nearly caved in with Alice pouting and blinking back false tears, but I couldn't impose on them, not after only knowing her a day. The end result was eating pasta by myself on my kitchen floor and a box, because I still hadn't brought a table and chairs.

After dinner, I rang Charlie. It's always an awkward conversation, but it's nice to know how he's doing. It was tough being away from the old man, but he seemed to be doing okay since he got together with Sue. It was good to hear he was all taken care of. He talked about fishing and the football. How Billy and Jake were doing. After that we ran out of topics and I left him at it. I didn't have the energy for a conversation with Mom. Alice had sucked it all out of me.

I still couldn't think of the song. The more he played it, the more it annoyed me. I got up from the ground, making a decision to buy a couch and a television tomorrow. I walked down the hall, and out the back door, slumping down onto the porch. It wasn't too cold, the smog warmed the air.

"_I have to move Dad."_

_He was lent against the bedroom door watching me throw clothes in the suitcases, and items into boxes._

"_He won't get out for another year in a bit, and that's on good behaviour Bells."_

_I just looked at him. There was no need for words._

"_Yeah. Sorry. Your right."_

_I had a feeling Charlie was saying sorry for more than just trying to argue with me. _

"_Dad, I'm nearly 23 years old. I need to find my own place eventually. Now is a great time."_

_He sighed and straighten up. "Need help...?" He left the question hanging._

"_No, I'm nearly finished" I smiled at him, trying to make him feel comfortable. He smiled back and walked downstairs to watch the game._

_I don't think I fooled him._

"Are you all right?" His velvety voice shocking me out of my recollection of the past.

I must have jumped, because he quietly laughed. I scouted out the source of the voice. There he was, in all his green eyed, bronze haired glory, leaning against the fence very much like Alice was hours before. He looked happy, a large smile plastered on his face, a slight tilt to his head in question, forearms resting on the top of the fence causing nearly the whole length of him to be doubled over.

_Bella, your staring._ I felt the heat warm my cheeks, as my blush filled my face. I diverted my eyes away quickly to clear my head.

"Uh. Yeah. Yes. Fine. I'm fine." I stuttered out. _Note to self. Don't let Edward catch you off guard._ My face fired up.

"No stars tonight." He was right, the smog covered the stars and the moon, turning the sky into an unwelcoming darkness. I turned back to him comforted that my blush, and my heartbeat, had settled down. It was dark out, but with enough light to see slight shades of colours and blurred details. I didn't want to risk him seeing me flustered. He was looking up at the sky, no longer leaning on the fence, standing straight up. He looked even taller from where I was sitting.

"It can't be often you do see stars in the city."

"No. Your right. It is a rare sight indeed." He murmured, staring back down at me.

After some minutes of silence I resumed the conversation we had had last night. "Perseus... He was the one who slayed Medusa."

He looked down at me in what I assumed was surprise.

"Medusa fascinated me." I said in way of an explanation. I didn't know how else to explain it. He didn't say anything, his silence unnerved me and I unnaturally babbled on.

"Most people assumed or assumes she and her sisters were born monsters, but a Roman poet, Ovid. He claimed that Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, a priestess in the temple of Athena-"

"The virgin patron of Athens." Edward was listening, and apparently interested. I stared at him, unsure whenever or not to continue.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, carrying on."

"It's quite okay." I smiled at him encouraged. So I carried on. "But Medusa made a mistake. She slept with the 'Lord of the Sea'."

"Of course Poseidon. He gets around."

He said it in such tone of voice, as if Poseidon was a friend that personally insulted him with his casual sex, laughter bubbled out without meaning to. "He gets around?"I questioned, still laughing.

"He had about twenty-seven lovers, I think. Medusa included." He was watching me with a smile.

"Twenty-seven?"

"Yeah, and like nearly 60 children."

"Wow, definitely gets around then."

This time Edward laughed, but a much different kind of laughter from that of earlier when I jumped in surprise.

"Gods, and Goddesses, were big on the children thing. Sorry. I interrupted again." He didn't look very sorry, a genuine smile still lighting his face, eyes crinkled in the corners with mirth.

"I don't think it was the children thing they were keen on..." I muttered.

Edward must have heard, and talked through his laugher. "I was being polite."

I grinned and shrugged, leaning back on forearms I continued. "Well the virgin goddess got pissed, right? In her temple and all, I guess. So Athena transformed Medusa's beautiful hair into snakes, and made her face so terrible, so ugly and disfigured, that the mere sight of it would turn a man to stone."

"How do you know all this?" He was staring at me with a strange look on his face.

"I retain facts well."

"Huh."

"I read Ovid."

"Never heard of him."

"He's better know for his erotic poetry."

_Oh shit. I did not just say that out loud. _

"I, uh, I did, um, literature, I majored in literature. That's where I read most of his stuff." Now I was back to stumbling over myself. I am inept at speaking English.

"You studied literature?"

"Yeah. Uh yeah, at Argosy."

"Seattle, right? Is that where your from?"

"Uh. No. No, I lived in a small town called, Forks. In Clallam County. With Char- uh, Dad."

"Washington's a fair distance from here."

I stared at my feet. _Yeah, it is a fair distance._ I think I may have sighed out loud and Edward must have heard it, because his voice once again breached my thoughts.

"Bella, are you okay?"

I looked up at him. He was staring straight at me, while that penetrating stare should have unnerved me, instead I felt calm. That calmness unnerved me. I stood up slowly breaking eye contact.

"Yes. I'm fine. I should go... Inside... It's late. Goodnight Edward." Brushing myself down, I turned without looking at him, I pushed open the door. Before it shut close, I heard his voice, so quiet it was almost a whisper.

"Sleep well Bella."

The door clicked shut behind me. Of course, I remembered what it was now.

_Clair de Lune._

* * *

**Okay, are we liking it so far? Thumbs up, thumbs down? Somebody?**

charlie-weasley, cheers me lovely ;)


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